Rockable balance plank



Dec. 23, 1969 PITKANEN ROCKABLE BALANCE PLANK Filed May 2. 1967 GilbertPl'fkanen INVENTOR. @0123. BY M Patented Dec. 23, 1969 ICE 3,485,493ROCKABLE BALANCE PLANK Gilbert Pitkanen, 3586 Irving Ave., Astoria,Oreg.

Filed May 2, 1967, Ser. No. 635,525 Int. Cl. A63g 13/00 U.S. Cl. 272-1 1Claim ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The balance plank invention has beendesigned to provide simple pleasure and competitive recreation. It couldalso be of therapeutic value for persons of all ages.

The balance plank is provided with transversely extending dependinglysupported rocker members at points spaced longitudinally therealong andmay be of one-piece construction or constructed of a plurality ofreleasably joined longitudinally aligned sections.

The rockers or rocker members of the balance plank include downwardlyfacing arcuate surfaces whose centers of curvature are disposed inlaterally spaced generally parallel vertical planes paralleling thelongitudinal centerline of the plank and in this manner the plank has atendency to rock as a persons weight moves from one end thereof to theother while the persons walks along the upper edge of the plank.

The balance plank is constructed in a manner such that its rocking fromone side to the other is somewhat limited and therefore the tendency ofthe plank to roll from beneath the feet of a person walking therealongis lessened.

The main object of this invention is to provide a balance plank havingthe capability of rocking when subjected to uneven application of ausers weight thereto and yet which will resist rolling completely frombeneath the feet of the user.

A final object of this invention to be specifically enumerated herein isto provide a balance plank which will conform to conventional forms ofmanufacture, be of simple construction and challenging to use so as toprovide a device that will be economically feasible, long lasting andprovide a challenge to the user over stationary balance planks.

These together with other objects and advantages which will becomesubsequently apparent reside in the details of construction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, whereinlike numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the balance plank;

FIGURE 2 is an end elevational view of the balance plank as seen fromthe right side of FIGURE 1; and

FIGURE 3 is an end elevational view of a modified form of balance plankconstructed in accordance with the present invention.

Referring now more specifically to the drawings, the numeral 10generally refers to the balance plank which comprises an elongatedgenerally horizontal member 12 constructed of stiif but possiblysomewhat deformable material. The elongated member 12 includes a pair ofend aligned opposite end sections 14 and 16 joined together at adjacentabutted ends by means of a pair of connector plates 20 secured toopposite sides of the plank 10 by means of suitable fasteners 22 securedthrough the plates 20 and to the abutted ends of the sections 14 and 16.In addition, the remote ends of the sections 14 and 16 includetransverse bores 24 through which fasteners similar to fasteners 21) maybe secured for securing a plurality of planks 10 together in end alignedand abutted relation.

The plank 10 includes a plurality of longitudinally spaced andtransversely extending rocker members 26, 28, 30 and 32. The rockermembers 26 and 28 are secured to the end section 16 in any convenientmanner and the rocker members 30 and 32 are secured to the end section14. Further, each of the rocker members is dependingly supported fromthe plank 10 and includes an arcuate under surface portion. The centersof curvature of the arcuate undersurface portions of the rocker members26 and 32 are disposed on a line spaced above and paralleling theelongated member 12, which line is disposed in a vertical plane passingthrough the centerline of the elongated member 12. However, the radii ofcurvature of the arcuate undersurface portions of the rocker members 28and 30 are spaced laterally to opposite sides of theaforementioned'plane and it may therefore be appreciated that as aperson walks along the upwardly convexed semi-cylindrical upper surface34 of the plank 10 the latter will have a tendency to first rotatetoward one side and then toward the other side.

As can be best seen from FIGURE 2 of the drawings as a person stands onthe right end of the plank 10 as illustrated in FIGURE 1 the rockermembers 28 and 30 will have a tendency to maintain the plank 10 in itsillustrated edge upstanding position. However, as a person standing onthe plank 10 walks toward the rocker member 28, the plank 10 will rockat least slightly toward the right as viewed in FIGURE 2. Then, as aperson walks along the plank 10 from the rocker member 28 toward therocker member 30, the plank 10 will have a tendency to rock toward theleft as viewed in FIG. 2 of the drawings. This tendency of the plank 10to rock as stated may be somewhat enhanced if the elongated member 12 isconstructed of slightly deformable and resilient material so that therocker member closest to the persons feet standing on the plank 10 willhave a greater effect on the position to which the plank 10 is rocked.

With attention now invited more specifically to FIG- URE 3 of thedrawings there may be seen a modified form of balance plank generallyreferred toby the reference numeral 10 and which may be substantiallyidentical in construction to the plank 10 or the rocker members 38thereof may have their centers of curvature disposed along the sameline. In addition, the rocker members 38 of the plank 10' includeopposite end downwardly projecting abutments 40 on their arcuate undersurfaces 42 and each rocker member 38 is provided with a pair ofdownwardly opening recesses 44 in which the upper ends of a pair ofcompression springs 46 are seated. The rocker members 38 of the plank10' rest upon longitudinally spaced points of a panel-like supportmember 48 which may be constructed of resilient material and the lowerends of the compression springs 46 abut against the panel-like supportmember 48 and thus yieldingly urge the plank 10' toward a centerposition of its limits of oscillation.

If it is desired, the compression springs 46 may be substituted for byintegral upwardly projecting columns carried by the panel-like supportmember 48. The panel-like support member 48 is utilized on soft groundand also on supporting surfaces which might be marred by theundersurface portions of the rocker members 38 of the plank 10'.

Although the connector plates 20 may be constructed of rigid materialand the end sections 14 and 16 as well as the rocker members 26, 28, 30and 32 may also be constructed of rigid material, the connector plate 20can be constructed of slightly deformable and resilient material so asto provide for greater rocking response affected by the rocker memberscarried by the end sections 14 and 16 in somewhat the same manner inwhich a greater rocking response is obtained if the end members arerigidly joined together but constructed of slightly deformable andresilient material.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles ofthe invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes Willreadily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limitthe invention to the exact construction and operation shown anddescribed, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalentsmay be resorted to, including motorized attachments readily adaptable tothe device for vigorous or controlled oscillation, falling within thescope of the invention.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A balance plank comprising an elongated generally straight horizontalmember, said elongated member including a plurality of longitudinallyspaced and transversely extending rocker members adapted to oscillatablysupport said plank from suitable support means, the end rocker membershaving their centers of curvature disposed in a first vertical planethrough the longitudinal axis of the elongated member and the rockermembers positioned between said end members having their centers ofcurvature disposed in vertical laterally spaced planes generallyparalleling said elongated member and said first plane.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 255,030 3/ 1882 Russell 27256273,530 3/1883 Hill 27256 2,225,723 12/ 1940 Spitzwieser. 2,941,8011/1960. Pedersen 27257 X 3,100,114 8/1963 Rimland 27256 3,152,81310/1964 Brown 27257 3,223,411 12/ 1965 Becroft.

OTHER REFERENCES Balancing Apparatus on p. 99 of Popular Mechanics ofJuly 1962.

ANTON O. OECHSLE, Primary Examiner A. W. KRAMER, Assistant Examiner US.Cl. X.R. 27260

